Reply #69: Makes sense. [View All]

[enlightenment]

Either one creates a problem, though - presumably (and I use that word advisedly) physicians' know which drug is best and that best choice may not be the hottest new thing to hit the marketplace. Adverts that push drugs encourage people to go to their doctors and request/demand certain brands - that may or may not be the best alternative. They encourage patients to go to their doctors thinking that there is a simple solution for a real (or perceived) problem. They lead to self-diagnoses that an incompetent or lazy or too-busy physician may go along with just to take the easy road.

Physicians are not gods, but they do - presumably - have the education and training to make more informed decisions about these matters. They don't always get it right (I used to double-check with my pharmacist, until the drug stores started replacing them with people who apparently have never seen a Merck Manual) but I know they know more than I do - most of the time (there was an ugly incident with Prilosec, but that's another story . . .).

Drug adverts tend to push the idea of patient as consumer a bit too far.




PS - love the drug name you used . . . :)